Most Distant Dark Matter Ever Found Dates Back 12 Billion Years

A new study uses a signal emitted shortly after the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background, to explore how dark matter is distributed around ancient galaxies.

By Sam Walters
Aug 3, 2022 6:00 PM
Dark matter distribution
In the new study, astronomers analyzed how the cosmic microwave background — a relic of radiation initially produced by the infant universe — was distorted by dark matter some 12 billion years ago. (Credit: Reiko Matsushita)

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The static speed of light assures that astronomers see faraway galaxies not as they are, but as they existed long ago. The same is true about the matter (regular or dark) that surrounds these ancient galaxies.

Astronomers recently used this knowledge — as well as a cosmic signal sent out shortly after the Big Bang — to map how dark matter was distributed around galaxies some 12 billion years ago. In short, they found the dark matter was less 'clumpy' than expected, which, if confirmed, would suggest that many accepted models of cosmology are due for revisal.

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